Denis Clifford Quilley was an English actor From a family with no theatrical connections Quilley was determined from an early age to become an actor and was taken on by the Birmingham Repertory Theatre in his teens After a break for compulsory military service he began a West End career in 1950 succeeding Richard Burton in The Ladys Not For Burning In the 1950s he appeared in revue musicals operetta and on television as well as in classic and modern drama in the theatre